Snail Mail! (Our Save The Dates)

Although it took a while for our actual vision of magnetic photo strip Save The Dates to come to life, they finally have -- and we snail mailed them out! YAY!!!

(Hard at work assembling the Save The Date's)

After both photo shoot sessions, we combined three new images from Tom's cousin and one image from our wedding photographer. Then I got busy in Corel Paint Shop Pro X and made them into a photo strip inspired by the ones you get at the mall -- complete with a top graphic. It was obvious ours had to say LOVE! That's the the whole reason behind all of this!

Here are how our Save The Dates looked in graphic-only form:

(Designed by yours truly in Corel Paint Shop Pro X)

And here they are completed in ready-to-mail form:

Now, I knew that we wanted to make these into magnets. Silly me, I just thought that we would cut off a few small chunks of adhesive magnet to put on the top and bottom. That obviously wouldn't have looked too hot and might have made for uneven paper on people's fridges... thank God for my sexy and smart sweetheart reminding me that we needed to put magnet backing on the whole backs of each photo strip - so that's what we did.

(Showing off his proud magnetic backing skills!)

Magnetic backing wasn't enough for these to be considered completed though. I have a strong appreciation (as I'm sure you all do too, of course) for crafty, cute packaging so once we had all of our magnets done we embellished these beauties. That's where the extra paper, tags saying "Made With Love" and raffia bows came in. I am really proud of our Save The Dates and couldn't have done it without Tom (so thanks baby- if you're reading this!)

(Just a few of the many Save The Dates all ready to be stuffed in envelopes and mailed out!)

My next post will be on a step-by-step tutorial on how to re-create these beauties. :) Get readdyyy for some crafting!

Did you make your Save The Dates from scratch? Why or why not?

What To Do About Shoes!

I bet you were expecting our completed (and awesome, might I add) Save The Date's to be the next post. Well, you probably would have had good odds of that happening if I wasn't such a ditz! I left my camera at Tom's house so the Save The Dates will get their big reveal tomorrow.

Until then, there's been all sorts of other exciting things going on in our wedding world. I picked out -- and purchased "the dress." Of course, I'm not going to give you any details about that right now. You'll have to go through the tedious proccess along with me as I re-cap (and mentally re-visit) the many bridal shops I visited and gowns I tried on...which should at least be partly entertaining.

The point is: I picked out my dress and now I get to accessorize. Although I've never been a huge shoe girl, I do love me some cute heels. Right now I'm dreaming off pink glittery heels. So I google image searched for some.


These for the wedding? Probably not. for anything. ever.

(source)

These? Definitely possibilities!

(source)

Ahh, beautiful. Rhonestones all over for lots of sparkle and just the right shade of pink for girliness! By far my favorite thus far...especially for only $140.

(source)

Satin = Sexy. The bow embellishment is so sweet. Too bad they don't have a back. I'd be afraid to dance all night in these. No glitter, though.

(source)

I never said they had to be all glitter. :) The brooch on these make them flashy yet classy.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure where else to turn to find pink glittery heels. And who knows, maybe I'll go with something different anyways. So I turn to you guys...

What are the good shoe stores out there to find beautiful heels for such a special occassion?

The Second Time Around...

As in my previous post, I mentioned that we had a second round of engagement photos because the first time my curls ended up falling out and we mistakenly left the most important photos (for our Save The Dates) as last on our agenda. So, Tom asked his cousin to help us re-create the Save The Date photos in front of a tree. This time, we did it in Tom's hometown at the park where our actual wedding reception will be. :)

I also learned a lesson from the first photo shoot - don't bother curling my hair the second time around, just in case it was really hot out again. Sometimes it's nice to have a redo... although it's a scary reminder there is no redo when it comes to the actual wedding! Anyways, Tom's cousin went above and beyond-- He actually stayed with us for quite a while taking extra pictures as well.

First, here's a teaser of how the second round of Save The Date's turned out!

Haha! Tom did not like this one when we attempted cheezin' but I think it's cute. I edited the text on there since we did a few with a blank piece of paper.

Here's the rest!




We were really happy with all of them...BUT the actual date 10/2/10 ones! It was a bit windy and unfortunately we didn't get a good shot of the paper flat with the date. So now what were we going to do when we compiled our Save The Date photo strips? My hair is curled in the first set of photos by Brian, and now in the second set it's not... so our thoughts were something like this: We can't merge them, can we? Oh yes, we can, and so we did. (The idea of a third photo shoot could have been a"charm" but Tom isn't nearly into posing for a camera like I am, so we made the best of it for our actual Save The Date photo strip.)

Before I show you how our actual Save The Dates and the photo strip turned out, here's some other photos by Tom's cousin that we really liked.






Did you have any bumps in the road when it came to your engagement photos and the bigger picture of using them for Save The Dates?

Our E-Pic(nic)s

Last month, Tom and I had our engagement photos done by our wedding photographer, Brian of Ideal Impressions. We (well, I) choose to do a picnic-type theme shoot to match accordingly with our wedding. This was done not only for cohesiveness but also because we are planning to have booklet-type invitations where some of the pages will be photos of us! Our photographer had suggested the beach as we are by Lake Michigan and could get some really gorgeous shots but I just didn't feel that was us or matched our theme... plus it was a little cliche for my liking (as if picnic-theme shoots arent, ha I know right?!) So, we still went near Lake Michigan but to a park.

Meeting with our photographer was a wonderful experience. Right off the bat he explained to us how he works. The first picture he took was near perfect with the way he had the light cast off my hair. I packed three outfits for Tom and I; however we only got to two of them. No biggie. The pictures still turned out great with some planning on my part and our photographer's skills.

Packing props is a great way to maximize your photo shoot. I packed the following:

• a collection of inspirational photos so I didn't forget any ideas
  
• bright green apple -- to go with our bright outfits
• picnic blanket to lay on
• picnic basket
• mason jar & flowers
  
• bubbles (didn't get to use these, but what a fun idea!)
• and of course, the most important... our Save The Date papers! We wanted our Save The Dates to be a fun photo strip of us so I printed off on paper the words "SAVE" "THE" "DATE" "10/2/10" for us to hold up.

Are you ready to see how some of our photos turned out? I can't wait to show you..




This is my absolute favorite! I cannot wait to have this in our booklet invitations!


Do you spot our apple, flowers, and picnic blanket? :)



This one isn't picnic themed at all, but Tom loved these rocks and we couldn't pass up a photo opportunity...




Cute story about this picture above: When I was at home, I trimmed the flowers I bought and had exactly all of these stems left. They were the perfect size/amount to spell LOVE!

And here are our filmstrip Save The Date's from the shoot! Since our theme is shabby chic outdoors, we thought it would be really cute to do these in front of a tree so it was in the background.




The weather was extremely hot that day and the curls in my hair ended up falling out really quickly so we weren't exactly happy when we saw these. Of course, it's nothing that our amazing photographer did, it was just my hair and the weather obviously didn't cooperate.

Because of this, we opted to have a SECOND photo shoot-- but this time to save us the money we used Tom's cousin who does photography has a side hobby. We figured his skills were good enough to just re-shoot the Save The Date's for us so we didn't look so sloppy in something that would be going on 50 people's fridge for who knows how long!

Want to know how the second photo shoot turned out? Keep watching for the next post on it.

Did you have a distinct vision for your engagement shoot (inspiration photos, props, and a theme) or did you go with the flow?

Lack of update

Sorry dolls, but there has been a lack of updating this blog for various reasons.

• I had applied for my blog to be featured on WeddingBee.com and still have yet to recieve a letter either way so I've been a bit discouraged. All of my really "great" posts I've been trying to save for that day...but now I'm not sure it's coming. *Fingers AND toes still crossed*
  
• My cousin who was in his 30's recently died and left behind a wife and their young daughter. This makes me very sad and has had me thinking about how it will affect her in the long run. My father passed away when I was in the 3rd grade so I can totally relate. My heart goes out to my family.
• We closed on our house and have been super busy with that. It's also restricted us cash-wise.

The good news is I'm back and have tons of posts for everyone! After raiding tons of dress shops, I'm still not sure what dress I'll end up with but I have lots of photos for you to laugh at (don't worry, I'll be laughing too!) Also, we got our engagement photos (finally) so we can share those as well as our Save-the-Dates. I'm also working with an invitation designer right now on using some of our engagement photos in a little booklet-type invite. Lots of picture-filled posts to come! Stay tuned and thanks for hanging in there with me.

The Value of Shopping Around

Shopping excites me. Finding the best deals and saving money is something everyone can relate to desiring even if they don't do it. For me, it's priority. Coupons, clearance, BOGO deals, Oh my! So it's no surprise that even though I (thought I) found my dream dress, I was still ready to compare/contrast prices elsewhere.

To date, I've only visited two bridal shops. I had a random, hilarious dream (later post on that) about ending up in a certain dress - the only dress that stood out from both trips and over 20 dresses I had tried on. Since Tom's opinion is most meaningful to me, yesterday we took a trip back to the shop to re-try on the dress I liked along with a few others.

Let me first say that it was such a good idea to go back to the store. Previously they would not disclose the exact dress style or designer, but the second time around they did without hesitation. Probably a bad idea for them as my shopping instincts kicked in and now I can find the dress elsewhere for cheaper, etc.

Here's the dress I'm talking about... Casablanca Style 1900.


The dilemma came in because it's sleeveless which is highly inappropriate at our Catholic church. Of course, there's many options to make this dress still a possibility. The most recommended is a bolero jacket (AKA cheesy formal-type cardigan) but that's my least favorite. So after talking with the seamstress at the bridal shop, it was obvious an option would be to either have cap sleeves or build in some sort of a top. My idea was for a t-shirt like top. They suggested ordering extra of the glittery overlay lace and getting something sewn on. That, of course, was their best option of what they could do and I was alright with it.

Today I was having second guesses on the gown though. Would it look okay with a complete top and such a flowy bottom? Did I really love it? No, I didn't. But the possibilites for sleeved dresses are so limited and this one was alright I thought...

Enter in a modesty bridal shop, Latter Day Bride online. Start the browsing of dresses with sleeve. "Ohhh, this one looks like what I want. *click* Wait, this is a LOT like what mine with a t-shirt top would look like," I thought to myself. Upon further comparing, I'm convinced it's my exact dress but with the t-shirt top that I thought I wanted.

LOOK.


Casablanca style 1900. Notice the top bead work, colored sash, and the lace bead work beneath it?

Doesn't this dress look really, really similar?(That's all the further I could zoom in)

Yep. It's the dress I wanted with the t-shirt top I wanted. Crazy!!!

So, let's say I still wanted the Casablanca altered into a t-shirt top design. Price at the bridal store (without costs of extra lace and seamstress work) is $898.00. Price at the online retailer (with no extra costs needed) is $1045.00. It seems the best bet would be to order it online... and even if I wanted it sleeveless, Google is to the rescue with cheaper prices on the Casablanca! See? There's a HUGE value to shopping around!




Now, not only could I have the dress for ultimately a cheaper price but it would the top would be prettier. It would actually be cohesive as it'd have the same top material. The only problem is that the dress isn't for me. I'm so lucky to have been able to see a picture of what it would look like -- at it's best -- to realize that it's just not "me" for my one and only wedding day.

Make sure you do the same! Take your time and put effort into making sure you know the dress is for you. It's just one of the huge decisions that goes with planning a wedding.

When you found your (prospective) dress, did you shop around before committing to buy?

Facing The Music

Lately things have been considerably slow in the world of wedding planning. Don't be fooled: I'm still planning 24/7, but for something different right now. Our focus has gravitated for the rest of the month towards making sure we have everything we need to close on our first house (EEEK! :) Super exciting, and more about house+registry=fun soon.)

However, Tom gave me some instructions today: Finish his laundry...check. Look up electrician's phone number...check. Face the music and find a DJ...(screeching halt) This has been one thing up until this point that does not grab my interest. Gasp! Why might you ask? A previous landlord of mine owns a wonderful DJ service but unfortunately he was booked for our date so I kind of stopped looking after that. Trust is vital when it comes to a DJ because you trust them to play good music, keep everybody entertained, and make special announcements in a professional manner. They need to respect your wishes, understand the audience, and make sure everyone is having fun. It sounds easy enough, right? Unfortunately, I haven't been to many weddings but the ones I have been to the DJ's have left me with a meh feeling. When guests leave our wedding, I'd like for them to think of how much fun they had in every aspect-- which includes the dance floor.

(source)

So is it possible to avoid a washed-up, inappropriate music-playing, talentless DJ??

My ideas (kind of no-brainers here!)

• Ask friends & relatives for suggestions based on their experiences
• Read reviews on websites - such as WeddingBee's own section on reviews
  
• Make sure to meet with any DJ before booking to discuss Play/Do Not Play lists
• Keep your fingers crossed
• Or, skip the DJ all together and use an iPod

Any other ideas? How has your DJ experience turned out?

Ridin' In Style

For being such an attention-detail bride, there has been one thing so far that has all been Tom's choice -- what we are riding in from the church to the reception!

I invite you to come in to one BIG (censored) LIMO (and yes, it's really named that...so we'll call it BAL):

(source)

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS MONSTER?!!

(source)

Now that you're in, have a look around...

(source)

Here is a view from the back of the limo (VIP section) If you look closely, you can see the fireplace and huge screen TV above it!

(source)

Here's the view from the front of the limo to what the actual back VIP section looks like. Two TVs, some big speakers, and a bar...not bad.

This bad boy packs:

• 3 bars
• 3 TV’s including a 32” plasma DVD
• CD player iPod hook-up
• Disco floor & bars
• VIP back lounge 34 ft long
• 18 passenger or 20 skinny people
• Moon roof
• Higher ceiling height of standard limo
• U lounge style seating for ultimate comfort and style
• Fireplace

And, I couldn't be more excited about it! Old fashioned cars are classic, regular limos are fine, but nothing says we're serious like this H2 Hummer. We actually got a better deal on renting this for 6 hours compared to a typical Cadillac limo or something similar that we were looking into, and the best part? We've rented the limo from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. After we're done using the limo (before our dinner at 5 p.m.) the driver has agreed to let children go for rides in it around the parking lot for the remainder of the time. How fun and what a great way to really stretch our money to make it worthwhile! I suggest it to everyone if they are having a lot of younger guests or have excess limo time.

Also, the sticker with inappropriate wording will be taken off while we are renting it. The company is obviously used to this request by now so it wasn't a problem.

Did you let your fiance figure out transportation for your wedding? Why/why not?

*All images were prtsc from my laptop so that I could crop and edit.

Bridesmaid Dresses

Tea-length. Bubblegum pink. Thicker straps. High waisted. These are the words that come to mind when I think of my dream bridesmaid dresses...

In the coming week or two, I am planning to take my girls shopping for their dresses! So, the dilemma comes in of either letting them all choose the same dress or, once again, straying away from the beaten path and letting them all choose different dresses.

(source)

VS.

(source)

(Aren't those purple dresses with the bows just delectable?! That silky fabric and huge bow make them so adorable!)

There are pro's and con's to both dress styles. Pro's of doing different dresses would be allowing the girls to pick out something that matches their body type and personality. It lets them know that hey, you are special because of who you are and aren't just here to be my back up dancer. Con's are that they wouldn't be the back up dancers if I so desired, photogenically speaking of course. Pro's of doing the same dresses would be that they are all uniform, traditional, and in a dress I'll obviously love! Con's would be that the dress might not be flattering on all of the girls and could end up ruining some photos, making them uncomfortable, etc.

The reason this is such a big deal for my girls and I is because I have one bridesmaid who is not only overweight but also states away -- all the way in NJ! It seems the easiest choice would be allowing the girls to pick out different dresses from the same retailer in the same color for something to tie them all in. However, is that what I want? Yes, I want to be somewhat accommodating and appreciative of my bridesmaids (they ARE my friends after all...) but am I sure that this "something different" in my wedding isn't going to be too much with my eclectic plates, different choice of reception venue, etc?

My bridesmaid in NJ has went to David's Bridal and also to a Dessy retailer. However all of the same sizes at Dessy were too small, and I'm not a fan of David's Bridal. So of course, she found something at David's Bridal that was nice to her. The problem is it wasn't for my wedding vision. My next step is to have her keep dress hunting and photo snapping for me while I take the other girls shopping around here to hopefully find the "bubblegum pink" dresses that I want and see what happens from there!

Did you go through this much bridesmaid dress dilemma? How did you decide to keep all the dresses the same -- or not? How did the bridesmaids, your family, or guests take the decision?

Drowning In Numbers

The other night we went over Tom's side of the family's guest list. We got a grand total, including children, of 228 people. My side should be about another 40 or so, plus our mutual friends. I always knew our wedding would be around 250 people but it's actually just hitting me now. It's easier to say that's how many people we are having than to actually start planning for it. My biggest challenge is dinnerware.

I know that I am making it more complicated and hard on myself by being anti all things catering, including china, but eclectic plates is what I want. To me, that's completely shabby chic and beautiful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder though and I just know that people are either going to love or hate my vision.

Yesterday I went plate searching. I visited a Value Village, Goodwill, and Dollar Tree. All three were successful for me. However it is becoming abundantly clear that buying not only plates but also dessert plates, glass chalets, and silverware is more costly than I realized. At first I told everyone that it's about .99 cents to buy a plate verse .40 cents to rent a plate so after the fact we'd either keep these plates, donate and tax write them off, or just have a beautiful theme for our wedding it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Now, the price is really starting to add up. Most plates I'm finding are $1.99 which is doubling the already doubled cost! At this point though I do love my vision but it's becoming such a challenge and I'm literally drowning in the numbers - both financial costs and just how many more plates I still have to buy for 250 guests!

I will add pictures later tonight to show you guys my collection so far. :)

Would you nix the idea before I get half way done and lose out on more money, or push through the challenge to get to my ultimate vision? Should I just do catering all together and nix the homemade food idea, too? Ahh, somebody help!!!

Ring Things, Bling Bling Bling!

It's time I share our ring story! As I've previously mentioned, I am an admitted planner. So when we had first talked about seriously getting engaged I knew that I had to be a part of picking out a ring I was going to wear FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. It's kind of a big deal! Unlike some brides, I don't think I could ever "upgrade" my ring; it just loses the meaning, memory and beauty behind it. So for a while I had searched online to find rings I liked. My top favorite brand ended up being Natalie K because of the bling factor. Often I saw diamond rings on other girls where they just had a plain band and one stone yet it still costed them thousands. To me, those kind of rings don't look like thousands. Sure, when you just get engaged, carat size and cuts are somewhat interesting (never really to me) but ultimately I cared more about having a ring that looked like a million bucks even if it wasn't.

Tom picked out a promise ring for me for my 21st birthday that I absolutely adore. It's perfect and he couldn't have done a better job - little bling diamonds forming a heart on a twisted band...it's just gorgeous! So it took a long time but I finally convinced him that we should go at least look at rings together to get some idea of what would look good on my petite hands. My ring size is a 5 so we needed to figure out what stones and how many would actually look good without separating my fingers too much. However, no stores in Wisconsin carry Natalie K so we drove down to Illinois on a weekend.

When we arrived at a jewelry store and looked at Natalie K. I was, of course, in love! The rings just had so many little diamond accents that made them sparkle. Exactly what I wanted, or was it? We couldn't find anything that fit my finger or was exactly what I wanted... I soon fell in love with the pave' style band. "Pave’ (pronounced Pa Vay) comes from 'pavement' as in cobble stones laid down close together. Clusters of tiny diamonds can create great accents at very reasonable prices because very small diamonds are not expensive." (source)

Somehow that day we ended up getting talked into designing a ring. We discussed and decided that we wanted three circular stones in a pave setting, and I wanted some sort of a halo around one or all of the diamonds. I often was told to walk away for a bit so the jeweler could discuss with Tom the actual details of the ring. So he actually pretty much designed it himself once he got a feel for what I was looking for.

Heres how it ended up looking:

Side view. Since Tom knows hearts are my favorite shape, he got hearts on both sides under the middle stone.

Regular view. A beautiful center stone with a halo around it and two smaller stones on the side. Talk about bling! You can also see the pavet band.

Don't worry, I know it's not all about me! ;) We also picked out a Tungsten band for him that day and got a guaranteed sales price for it which we just haven't bought yet. You'll have to wait on pictures for that one as well as when we get a custom band for my ring.

*All personal photos. Do not steal!

Semi-DIY

I like my title. It's totally a rip off from Sandra Lee's Semi Homemade Cooking on the Food Network!


I started my first (semi) DIY project for the wedding. Last night at Target I found these two serving trays on clearance for $5.00 each! Any other ones I had been looking at were at least around $12 - 15.00. So I decided that since I already have white paint and primer at home that I can easily cover up the inside of these since they didn't go with my Shabby chic theme. I also say semi DIY because Tom was over and kind enough to help me. Apparently I was putting the primer on too thick! Oops... gotta love a handyman around. ;) Right now I'm thinking I'll put one of our desserts in them. Perhaps caramel apples with twigs?

(source)

The tray's are not done yet as I've only primed them, but here's what they look like so far "AFTER." I think they are turning out great. So simple to change and such a drastic result! Now only if the other 25+ DIY projects on my list are that easy...

What do you think of how they look so far? :) Have you found any steal of a deals that you only had to touch up a bit to make fit with your wedding theme?

*Personal photos unless stated otherwise. Do not steal!

Age Isn't Just A Number

(This post may be more on the rant side, so I apologize in advance. Although I feel a lot of you younger brides will be able to relate.)

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. A few people in my fiance's family tend to be forgetting the golden rule: "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all." Because of this, it has lead me to be anti-wedding planning for a few days. (Along with dealing with an overwhelming guest list...)

Anybody who knows me knows that I am the ultimate planner. I started researching and planning our wedding before we were even engaged. If it's clear that you will have a short engagement, I think it's a great idea to start figuring out all of the small details ahead of time so that it is as stress free and fun as possible. Seriously, I've thought of near everything needed for our outdoor reception...even bug spray!

Constructive criticism does not bother me. However, criticism and plain ol' judgment does. One comment I recently heard through the grapevine was, "Tom and Brittany are getting married? Oh come on, what are they-- 12 years old?"

As you can imagine, I was floored. A little angry, a little hurt, but mostly disgusted that someone would say this. Almost all of Tom's relatives have gotten married young (18-19 years old.) The cousin in particular who made this comment about us got married herself when she was 20 years old. For the record, Tom will be 20 when we are married and I will be 22 a MONTH after. We are young, yes, but not anything out of the ordinary especially for all of his family. Most everyone is happy for us, but the few who aren't have just overpowered in my head lately.

Age isn't just a number, though. That is a lesson I've learned now. People will still judge based on it and that is something I am going to have to accept. At the end of the day we know this is the right thing for us and over the years I'm sure there won't be anymore comments, but having people rain on my parade really stinks. It's people like his cousin that I'm not looking forward to having to invite to our wedding. Obviously she thinks we're too young (and apparently, age factors with immaturity...always?) and it'll just be a fake congratulations.

I am such a shy, intimate person that having a big wedding is fun, but scary for me. It bothers me I have to invite people that I've never met and Tom has only spoken to once or twice. It's our day and people shouldn't be there unless they are truly there for us. Just another thing I'm going to have to get used to.

When I marry into his family, it might be a shock but I'm willing to stand up for myself unlike a lot of the other sister-in-law's, etc. "This is just how it is in a big family" doesn't work for me. Hopefully, people will not be talking behind my back about my choices anymore and they will learn to come to me about my choices if they have an opinion on it. Otherwise, they need to follow the golden rule!

Did you experience any criticism based on you (or your fiance)'s age? How did you deal with it?

Imma Be, Imma Be, Imma Be...

looking all fly and (stuff),
I'm a be the flyest chick - SO FLY!
I'm a be spreadin' my wings,
I'm a be doin' my thing...

...End of Fergie lyric nonsense. ;)

But seriously, I'm a B(rittany)! and I'm a be a BRIDE! But what about our bridesmaids and groomsmen? Are they gonna 'be'? Well, we decided early on that we wanted to do something more official to ask them. We ordered special custom invitations of "Will you be my..." for the girls and for the guys that we are planning on hand delivering. (Can't wait to see their expressions!) This way they'll have the actual invite and know it's a serious, set in stone, kind of thing. Mainly though because it will put my mind to ease about the officialness of it as well.

They finally arrived! We ordered the MOH/Bridesmaids cards from SDezigns and the Best Man/Groomsmen cards from DetailsBeyondDesign. (Both sellers are from Etsy...seriously, who doesn't that site?!)

Here's what they look like:

Above is the Best Man invitation. The groomsmen invites are pretty much the same. Sorry about the flash glare making it look so awful! We asked for blue cardstock instead of white because our colors are blue for the guys and pink for the girls. On the inside it has a saying we thought of ourselves:

"It would mean so much if you were by my side as a witness to me taking my bride. Will you be my (Best Man/Groomsman)?"

And here are the Bridesmaids invitations...

They are pink sparkly dresses. I added the glitter with a gluestick so of course it shows up awful in this photo, but in person it looks much better and was the sparkly touch I wanted. These open up to an inside which says "Nothing would give me more joy and pride than to have you at my special day by my side... Will you be my (MOH/Bridesmaid)?"

Although these were completely unnecessary, we thought they were perfect for us and our fellow bridal party members. We also have the invitations above for our ring bearer and flower girl, too.

Have you considered giving out formal invitations to your bridal party members? How did it go?

It's a Date!

Sorry sweeties! I haven't been able to update for a few days. Since Tom and I live an hour apart, I usually get to spend most weekends at his house with his family. This weekend was especially crazy because I had a job interview test on two hours of sleep, toured potential reception venues, and we went house hunting. The fun planning of our wedding and after life (house hunting) has began all because we got the date we wanted from our priest! :) *twirling in bliss*


October 2nd, 2010 - ten two ten - 10/2/10...Ahh, what a beautiful date!

Since we've got an official date, we were able to get the chance to look at some potential wedding reception venues this weekend. One was a barn that was beautiful on the inside (very rustic) but unfortunately the set-up was the weirdest thing ever. The bar was in a completely different room, we could not have fit all of our guests on the main floor for dinner, and the dancing was upstairs. Awkward. Another place we visited was on Lake Nagawacka. It just wasn't for us with all of the children that will be attending the wedding, and it was SO WINDY. Yuck!

My favorite potential spot was county fair grounds up by where Tom's from. They had a cute "small animal barn" that would be large enough of a shelter and place if it were to rain the day of our wedding. Outdoor next to it was a huge, beautiful pond and bridge as well as a huge open space of land for putting up a tent. For $300, we'd have both spaces so we could decide a week or so before the wedding once we know what the weather would be like.

However, our hearts are set on taking a risk. We've always been the couple dating that goes out and does fun, new things every few weeks. (Rock climbing, the beach, amusement parks, etc.) So if I were to place a bet, I'd say it's an 90% chance we will be having it at a park. It's just beautiful and more intimate than the county fair grounds. Unlike the fair grounds, we wouldn't have to track all over for pictures. There's also a huge playground for children and a huge fire pit to warm up by. At the beginning of the trail leading up to the park there is even a sign that says "Where Memories Begin..." Seriously, how cute is that?!! I'm such a sucker for any photogenic spot!

We've got the park on hold until tomorrow, and some other big decisions to make regarding house hunting. It's getting more and more exciting every day!

Did you get a special feeling right away at the place you ultimately choose your reception, or did you take a safe route and choose something 2nd best but ended up loving (or hating) it?

We're Going To The Chapel And We Are...

going to get an OFFICIAL date to plan our wedding around! I am thrilled! Well, I'll be thrilled unless our priest crushes my fantasy of having a 10-20-10 date for the wedding.

Tom and I are both Catholics. After we first started dating, I began going to church with him by my own request and interest. It resulted in taking classes for my conversion and over this past Easter I was lucky enough to be baptized and confirmed. There is still a lot to learn and many ways for me to grow in my faith, but I couldn't be happier and more excited to embrace this life style. I know that everyone has their own beliefs so I will try to stay away from preaching in this blog. Although, we do have certain beliefs I will bring up because they are related to the wedding planning process. For example, we do not eat meat on Friday's so that is something that we have to take into consideration for a wedding reception. (Although I'm not opposed to pasta! It's gotta be cheaper!)

Since we're engaged, Tom let our priest who has helped in my conversion know and now tonight we will be going for a meeting with a new purpose -- marriage lessons. This is something else I'm very excited for. Any tools that can help us understand each other better and improve our relationship is something to be grateful for. I've been told by my future SIL, who is also a convert, that the lessons are very engaging and fun. So tonight we will see. Potential dates we can be married and begnning of our marriage lessons -- what a huge step in our lives that I didn't foresee a year ago. I cannot wait and will let everyone know how it goes. It's definitely the most important thing to figure out.

Did you take marriage lessons through your church? Were they required or recreational? What did and didn't you like?

Mr. and Mrs. Indecisive

It's only been three days since we've been engaged, and I'm already feeling some stress from planning. Our church ceremony will be in a Catholic church, but the biggest hurdle for us will be picking a place to have our reception at. I feel that after we lock down a place that means we have an official date and can get to all of the fun planning - decor, invites, music, food, etc.

My vision (I guess I should say our, but I'm sure you ladies know that most men are pretty relaxed about decor, etc.) includes a flower petal pathway, Shepard's hooks and pails full of flowers, eclectic plates I plan to collect at second hand stores, mason jars, lots of string lights, DIY tissue paper pom poms, DIY rustic wood signs, etc. As we had talked about this stuff prior to getting engaged, it seemed pretty clear that we would use someone's backyard and just rent a tent, chairs, tables, and a dance floor as we wanted an outdoor Shabby chic wedding. It was not only a pretty idea and open-ended for decor, but it was a cheaper alternative than an expensive venue.

The idea of an outdoor reception is still our main focus but we are now considering barns as well or a indoor venue that looks outdoor. This is because we do need to take weather into consideration. The problem with barns is that all of the wedding-designated ones are hours up north and we're not sure how to approach locally owned farms to see if they could use extra cash and would consider renting one out -- although this is something I am interested in pursuing as I've read it as a suggestion on another website. The other problem is that we could find an outdoor venue through places but it may run us a lot more cost wise. I say this because at venues, they typically require a specific catering cost which is per plate/head plus a facility fee. Although, paying for plate/head could make up for what we may pay for a tent/tables/chairs/dance floor at a park if the venue includes all dinnerware and tableware.

One of my biggest pet peeves is catering. This is one of the reasons we are being extremely indecisive right now when it comes to venue options. For a large number of wedding guest attendees, a buffet-style would be our choice. Frankly, the food I've tasted at wedding style buffets hasn't held to my personal high standards and expensive taste buds for the sole fact that if we are paying the ridiculous amount that catering charges I would like for it to taste like that. Slabs of ham, a bucket full of mashed potatoes, and some warmed up corn doesn't cut it for me personally. Also, I feel that catering doesn't allow enough creative freedom. There are things I want -- such as caramel apples with twigs for the sticks (to fit with the rustic, Shabby chic theme.) I just feel it would be much more delicious, just as pretty if not prettier, and mean more if we were able to get our family and friends to help us prepare our own menu.

What do you think? Do it outside so that I can have homemade food or consider a venue which requires a caterer?

Big wedding for a small town girl

Having a large wedding was never really a dream of mine growing up because I'm an only child. I had been to two or three weddings in my entire childhood. However, becoming a part of a big family WAS a dream of mine. Entertaining guests and the comfort of a large family has always appealed to me, and lucky for me, Tom has a HUGE family! Tom is one of thirteen kids in his family and he's the youngest (only unmarried) guy. His aunts and uncles are all the same and have large families so the number of his cousins is just ridiculous - in a good way. Having so many families members can be such a wonderful thing because your family (should, anyway) always be there for you. I am going to be lucky enough to marry into such a large family with wonderful people.



At first (and sometimes still) it can be overwhelming though. With such a large family, there is always events to attend. They've got birthdays every month of the year, weddings, etc. So of course in their family everyone is invited to each other's weddings.

My mother is also a child in a large family. She is one of twelve. However, most of her siblings (my aunts and uncles) only have a few kids. Still, my side of the family will bring a good number to the table as well.

More guests to think about are family friends, and Tom and I's personal friends.

This means a big wedding for a small town girl like me. We're thinking around 250 people. It also means additional struggles - finding a venue large enough, costs, and making sure nobody is left out. There will be times where my head is spinning and I'm drowning in stress, but I have vowed to myself never to forget the purpose of this all which is to be married and start my life with the one I truly love.

Have any of you had struggles adjusting to a bigger or smaller family? How has this affected your wedding planning process?

He Proposed!

Tom and I had talked about getting married in depth before he proposed. This is the best way for any relationship so that you don't go into it blindsided or not knowing what each other's needs, desires, and dreams are. So although I knew one day it would probably happen, I wasn't sure of when or how!

On Saturday, April 10th, 2010, Tom proposed to me. It is a memory very sweet and genuine to me with all of our personal quirks involved. The one life lesson I learned from this is to stay true to your roots and try not to be such a perfectionist. IE: Don't make silly requirements like "I must be dressed up the day you proposed," and "It cannot be in front of people!" -- which I totally did...

I feel it is a very special memory for us that doesn't need to be explained in depth to every one, but here is the general gist of how it happened. We were planning to go to a church dinner so I was dressed up. Since Tom and I live an hour from each other and our church is in the middle, we made plans to meet there a few hours early to kill time. This is not unusual for us because as I have taken my conversion classes to become a Catholic, we have met early before just to spend time together. Well, I left my house and let Tom know I was on my way. Little did I know he was already in my town hidden around the corner from my house. We actually drove right past each other. He, of course, was freaking out that I might have saw him and he didn't know what he would do in that case. I, of course, am a typical blonde who was off in my own world and didn't even notice him! :) He went to my house, asked my mother if he could have my hand in marriage, and proceeded to set everything up. Then he called me and said he thought he could beat me to my house. I turned around, came inside the house, and was obviously surprised when he proposed!

The most special part to me was the fact he had a family friend photographer there to document the very first moments of us being engaged, including the first time he put the ring on my finger (as shown in the picture above.) There were even pictures of him setting up before he proposed. To me, these photos help ignite the butterflies inside of me. I can appreciate just how genuine, sweet, and thoughtful Tom was on this day. His vulnerability as he was on one knee with an open heart gives me such a special feeling that I now know it would not have of mattered how or where he proposed because in the long run it's just about us being together as one.

Since photography is precious to me, he arranged for us to go for a mini photo shoot in the city. Then, we hit up a delicious wine and steak house. Soon after that we headed directly to my cousin's house to ask her to be my Maid of Honor (I couldn't contain my excitement! Can you blame me?) and then celebrated the evening with champagne and some of Tom's fraternity friends.

Now we are happily engaged and eager to get the wedding planning process started.

Did your engagement proposal live up to your expectations? Did you know it was coming and previously discuss just how serious marriage is?

A little about ME

When I was 13 years old, I convinced my best friend I didn't believe in love. There was a pre-conceived notion I had that I would never find my prince charming because, of course, that's what fairy tales are for. So I wrote off love and went on with growing up. Obviously from growing up, there were many life lessons learned along the way. Relationships came and went, with sparks that gave me temporary satisfaction of dating, but never could I have imagined where my life would lead me...

My college career (and more specifically, my decision to join a sorority) was the best thing that could have happened. It has been a path to success before I've even graduated and that's all because I met the love of my life, Tom.

Anxious and determined to go to a fraternity's highly rated formal last year, I got word around that I would be interested in going if anyone needed a date. Long story short, I pretty much persuaded Tom to ask me. (I was determined I tell you!) We had met once before briefly which worked out for the best. The night was so care free and fun. We looked good together in pictures. We started hanging out more. We simply just hit it off. He eventually asked me to become his girl friend, and luckily we've been dating ever since without any rocky relationship paths.